Basketball and pop culture fans were all rooting for the complete comeback of former NBA All-Star Lamar Odom, especially after he freely unveiled all of his bumblings and missteps in his bestselling book Darkness to Light: A Memoir.
But Odom, 39, was far from ready to compete in a professional capacity because he wasn’t in playing shape, according to TMZ, and he was subsequently kicked out of the BIG3 basketball league founded by rapper-filmmaker-entrepreneur Ice Cube.
The BIG3 reps hit up the media through a statement on July 10 announcing the unceremonious ouster of Odom from the league for the remainder of the season.
“As the premier professional 3-on-3 league in the world, we are always striving to improve the quality of both the live and broadcast experience for our fans as well as the level of competition,” the statement read, according to TMZ.
Odom was not alone in getting the boot from the BIG3 league. Former NBA All-Stars Baron Davis, Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells were also deactivated from the competition.
Odom is unfortunately more famous for being the ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian who nearly died after a drug overdose at a legal brothel outside of Las Vegas in 2015. He remained in a coma for a period of time and he said in his book that he suffered multiple strokes and heart attacks during that infamous ordeal.
He had barely made a mark in the 3-on-3 league. Odom only scored 2 points and grabbed 4 rebounds for the season. These are far from the kind of numbers he produced as legendary Kobe Bryant’s teammate that took home an NBA championship for the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2010.
